Faith of Mosquitoes

Scripture:

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Luke 6:20-31

Preached 11/03/2013                                                         

Mosquitoes are fantastic.  Yes, I know, they’re annoying.  They buzz around and bite and swarm.  And still, they’re fantastic.  Think about this—mosquitoes love damp climates, which clearly means they spend a lot of their lives in the rain.  And, as you know, mosquitoes also have tiny little bodies, and next to no natural defenses.  So, living in those rainy places, they get hit by falling rain drops.  Those drops weigh 50 times more than they do.  And yet, mosquitoes take that kind of pounding all the time.

Who here hasn’t felt like a mosquito caught in a rain storm, at least once in a while?  We all have times when the winds and rains of life pound us from every side, and every time we turn around we’re bombarded by something that seems bigger and more powerful than ourselves.  It’s easy to feel like a mosquito- tiny, and defenseless.      Habakkuk definitely felt like this.  He’s definitely caught in a storm.  Historically, his city was being sacked by the Babylonians, and it wasn’t going to win.  He and his people are in trouble.  There are violence and destruction all around. It seems like the good people can’t win and the bad ones are getting away with murder.  Sound a little familiar?  Except being sacked by the Babylonians, these are all storms we continue to find ourselves stuck in today.

So what do we do when we’re stuck, as Habakkuk and mosquitoes, in rain storms?  Well, if you remember our scripture reading, Habakkuk’s first response was to cry out and accuse God of neither seeing or caring about the storms and their destruction.  We kind of skip the part where God responds to that accusation in the text, but I’ll summarize very quickly by saying God disagrees, God sees and cares what’s going on, and isn’t particularly happy about Habakkuk’s accusation.  So, instead of taking our cue from Habakkuk, we’re actually going to look at mosquitoes, and their remarkable, and yes, faithfully rich way, of weathering storms.

So how do mosquitoes do it?  What researchers have found, and yes, there are people who research mosquitoes—and what these people have found is that there are three main ways a mosquito survives the pounding of rain and wind.  First, the mosquito has a strong exoskeleton.  Second, the mosquito has low mass.  And third, the mosquito does something that those mosquito researchers describe as an insect form of Tai Chi.  And with the help of the findings of these mosquito researchers and the wisdom in our scripture, we’re going to look at the tools we have in our own spiritual tool boxes that will help us, too, make it through life’s rain storms.

 Clearly, we don’t actually have exoskeletons, like mosquitoes do.  But, we do have something that, like an exoskeleton, helps protect us from the force of the storms that pound on us.  As Jesus reminds us in this passage from Luke.  We have sure knowledge that the storms we experience are temporary.  Those who are poor will inherit the kingdom of God.  Those who weep will laugh.  Those who are hated and excluded will be rewarded greatly in heaven.  Things might look dark in a storm, but God promises there will be holy, healing light.  And, as God’s rebuke to Habakkuk reminds us, God is not just there in the light after the storm.  God is there with us, right in the middle of the storm, taking the pounding right along with us.

Now, maybe you’ve guessed this already by my repeated referencing of scripture, but one of the tools in our spiritual tool box that helps strengthen this spiritual exoskeleton is scripture.  Not just listening to scripture on Sunday morning, but reading scripture on other days too.  And not just when the storms are already upon you, but in the sunny times too.  That’s the way the exoskeleton helps a mosquito, right?  It’s already strong before the rain comes.  So, to strengthen your own, immerse yourself in scripture as much as you can, even if it’s a psalm before bed or a Gospel story with your morning paper.  In scripture, you find so many wonderful reminders, assurances, and enactments of God’s constant care, presence, and promise, and those will certainly strengthen that spiritual exoskeleton to help you withstand the pounding of the rainstorms of life.

 On to the second way that mosquitoes survive rain storms—they have a low mass.  Because of this low mass, when a raindrop hits a mosquito, the raindrop doesn’t lose much momentum, which means it doesn’t transfer much energy.  The hit that the mosquito takes isn’t as powerful as it would be if the mosquito were larger. 

The lesson we learn from the mosquito here is to lessen our own mass.  This isn’t about physical size at all.   The mass that we can help ourselves by lessening is about stuff.  We can lessen our mass in life by not holding on to so many material things, and all the worries and misplaced love that can go along with them.  As Jesus warns us in Luke, woe to those who are rich, who are full, who are laughing, and to those of whom others always speak well.  Jesus isn’t condemning all material possessions and happiness here, but he is warning us of the danger of having too much. 

Too much money food, or fame—that’s people speaking well of you—can all lull us into false senses of security, and independence, thinking we have it all, we earned it all, and we don’t need anyone else, including God.  On the even darker side, an excess “mass,” or material possessions and ties to them, can even trick us into thinking we are invincible, and the storms of life will never touch us.  And when the inevitable storms come, if our “mass” is too great, we will take a much harder hit from the storm.

And so the practice here is pretty self explanatory.  If you have an abundance of stuff, have less.  Reduce your mass.  Of course, I think the Church is always a great place to give money ant time to, if you realize you have more than you need and maybe haven’t been tithing.  And this church supports many wonderful organizations—like Isaiah 58 and Feed My People-- that accept donations of food and clothes, if you find excess there.  By reducing mass in this way, we not only help ourselves make it through storms, we can help others do the same.

So, the mosquito’s third and final way of surviving rain storms—insect Tai Chi.  Believe me, I love doing yoga and am super tempted to have us all do some actual Tai Chi this morning.  You’re lucky it’s communion Sunday and I’m keeping this short.  But back to mosquitoes.  The mosquito Tai Chi is the way the mosquito responds to a direct hit from a rain drop.  Instead of attempting to push through the rain drop and go forward or up, the mosquito, falls with the rain drop for about 20 body lengths.  And then, because the mosquito and the rain drop have traveled together, the force of the raindrop on the mosquito is again greatly reduced.  The raindrop and the mosquito kind of release each other.

For us, this looks like, not letting rain storms define us, or force us into a fight we won’t win.  As Jesus tells us, loving our enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, praying for those who abuse us, giving to those in need, and turning the other cheek—which, by the way, is not nearly as pacifistic as it sounds, but that’s another sermon for another time.  This is not letting the world ultimately get us beaten down or discouraged.  It is responding to adversity in a realistic and healthy way, not reacting in panic, desperation, or anger.

So, looking to our spiritual tool boxes, how do we do this in real life?  Since the mosquito does Tai Chi, I’m drawing on another eastern, still Christian tradition.  We can have a mantra—that is, a phrase that we repeat mentally or out loud-- that helps us let the force of life’s storms go through us, but not destroy us.  And, since this morning’s scripture reading has my absolute favorite verses from Habakkuk, I have a suggestion, if you don’t want to find one on your own.  “³For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”  Or, if you want a shortened version, “It will come.” Use one of those phrases, or find a different one that works for you, maybe from the Luke reading if that’s more your style, or maybe from that scripture you’re reading to strengthen your spiritual exoskeleton. 

Repeat the phrase out loud or in your head, write it on sticky notes and post it where you will see it, and let the phrase become part of you, so that when you take a hit from a big drop of rain, you can remember to let it go through you.  You can respond without reacting, and you can fall but not get beaten down.     

God still has that vision for the appointed time, and it’s still coming.  You will get there, and we’ll all get there.  So as it seems to tarry, keep waiting for it.  Keep using those mosquito tools in your spiritual tool box, and you will be able to live through the rain by your faith.